Four USC women’s basketball players earn all-conference honors

COLUMBIA – Three South Carolina women’s basketball players were named Wednesday to the all-Southeastern Conference second team, while a fourth made the all-freshman team.

On the second team are USC’s three starting guards: seniors Markeshia Grant and La’Keisha Sutton, and junior Ieasia Walker. On the freshman team: forward Aleighsa Welch, a Goose Creek High graduate. Sutton also made the all-defensive team.

Grant leads USC with 10.8 points per game. In SEC games, she is second in the league with a 3-point percentage of 38.2.

Sutton leads the team in scoring in SEC games with 11.8 points per game. In all games, she is second on the team in scoring (10.4 points per game).

Walker is fourth on USC in scoring (7.8 points per game) and leads the team with 95 assists. In three straight SEC games this season, she had 19 assists and no turnovers, including six assists and no turnovers in USC’s win at Tennessee – the first time the Gamecocks had defeated the Tennessee since 1980.

Welch, who was Miss Basketball as a high school senior, is third on the team in scoring (8.2 points per game) and first in rebounding (6.1 per game). She leads the SEC with a field goal percentage of 59.9 percent and ranks No. 2 among the league’s freshmen in rebounding.

USC ended the regular season 21-8, 10-6 in the SEC – its best overall and conference records since 2002-03, the last time it made the NCAA tournament. That was also the last time the Gamecocks had a winning conference record. They likely will make the NCAA tournament this season, the fourth for coach Dawn Staley.

But first, USC plays in the SEC tournament in Nashville, beginning Thursday at 10 p.m., ET, against Alabama. The winner meets Georgia at 10 p.m. Friday. Both games will be televised on SportSouth.